Three Inches of Snow?

Three Inches of Snow?
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

We just survived our first ‘blizzard’ in Atlanta. It was a few inches of snow, with a light wind. People rushed to the grocery store to buy staples, and businesses closed early. Mabel and I had a front row seat for the snowstorm, since our big window faces a busy street. The whole day was punctuated by the squeal of brakes, and texts from our Atlanta friends warning us to stay put.

I admit to a certain level of smugness, haunted by that one January in the 1980’s, when I lived in Fargo and the temperature didn’t get above zero degrees Celsius the entire month. Not once. Plus there was wind. Not these gentle zephyrs that tickle the southern states, but the kind of winter wind that steals your breath the second you step outside. If you don’t have a scarf tied around your lower face, you won’t be able to take the itty bitty icy breaths needed to keep your brain alive.

By the end of that January, my college friends and I had acclimated. We gingerly stepped over snowbanks wearing party clothes and disco sandals. I repeat. . . my friend Trish and I wore open toe shoes in way below zero weather! We were heading for the Trader and Trapper, Fargo-Moorhead’s own version of Studio 54. Which had none of the celebrities, but did offer really cheap beer and dancing (my raison d’etre).

The so-called weekend blizzard that Atlanta just had, gave Mabel and I the perfect opportunity to craft and upload several auditions, or self-tapes as they are referred to. Here’s how this works.. . . our agent sends us an email with a scene or monologue, a brief description of the character we’ll be portraying, and if we’re lucky, a portion of the script. We set up our lights, backdrop and camera, and videotape the audition. The person who’s auditioning is in front of the backdrop and the reader stays behind the camera and reads the cue lines.

Since we weren’t going anywhere, and we were going to be having frozen pizza (our favorite storm food) for supper, we had all day to get our scenes done to our satisfaction. If that took 15 takes. . . so be it. In one self tape, Mabel was auditioning for the part of an angry teen, and I had to remind her how to put that inflection of contempt into her voice when mentioning her mother. What a joyful moment for me when she couldn’t remember how disdainful she needed to sound when she referred to ‘her’ (the mother in the script).

We were both cracking up when we taped me as a character who turns from a helpful Granny Clampett type into a metal fanged demon from the netherworld. After we submitted the auditions that our agents had requested, we kept on taping. . . like doing extra credit homework even though there’s no actual teacher, or grades or even a school.

There are websites that allow you to submit an audition tape without an agents invitation. We have been submitting to these online cattle calls, just for the practice of self-taping. We pushed ourselves during these snow days, and submitted a total of 5 self-tapes. For most of them, or even all of them, you never hear another peep. But once in a blue moon, or a super moon, someone will get back to you with either a callback (which means they like you and want you to audition again) or in the rarest cases, they’ll just go ahead and hire you.

While we wait to be hired for something, we continue to work on scenes and monologues, attend acting classes, and go to movies. We ventured out last night, thinking that the roads would be clear. They were, but parking lots and the ramps that adjoin them are another story altogether. After last nights picture show, we held hands and skated down the incline leading to our parked car. I hope Santa knows I desperately need a pair of thick soled winter boots. If I’ve been naughty will I get disco shoes in my stocking?

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot